The Legend of the Navajo Skinwalker
by thatdragonwiththetophat.com
Summary: When Meeko, Flit, and Percy are brought out into the forest at night, they come across an owl who has a scary story to tell. It is a story from across the land, a long ways from Virginia and the Powhatan Tribe. It is the Legend of the Navajo Skinwalker.


**The Legend of the Navajo Skinwalker**

Meeko loved hearing Pocahontas sing.

He just loved her voice. But then again, who wouldn't love the voice of the human who saved you from drowning. Sure, Nakoma help to save him too, but still, Pocahontas had the nicer voice.

So, in the middle of a night not unlike any other night, the subtle sound of far off singing was enough to rouse Meeko from his slumber.

The raccoon had a facial expression of confusion at first, for the singer was clearly not Pocahontas. The voice that of a male. However, the song still seemed familiar. Meeko couldn't make out the words, but as he lay on the bottomless pit he called his stomach on top of a bed of grass, he couldn't help but sway his head and tap a fore paw to the rising and falling melody the echoed off in the distance.

Now, if there was one thing Meeko valued as much as food, it was a good night's sleep, and perhaps an afternoon nap. Therefore, there must have been something very special about the far off singing to get Meeko to walk off into the night after it. It was as if the racoon were in a trance, only half aware of his movement out into the woods, not really knowing where he was going, or when he would stop.

Meeko did not know how long he had walked for, or exactly how far he had gone. But one thing for sure, was that the singing had gotten closer, and louder. Meeko was only half listening, so although he should have been able to hear the words clearly, he only half-comprehended them.

Indeed, by some strange coincidence, the song was quite similar to a song Pocahontas had sung not too long ago. However, the male singer was singing in a harsher, more lower tone and tempo. And of course, he was singing different words.

_He rules over whatever land he walks on_  
_This Earth is just a play thing for his game_  
_He has power over every man and creature_  
_No one shall ever live to say his name_

_His power is revered among all people_  
_His priesthood lifts him higher up than you_  
_He walks using the footsteps of all creatures_  
_The walls of your homes cannot keep him from you_

_Have you ever heard a wolf cry become a fox call?_  
_Or ask an owl why he had the feathers of a crow?_  
_He wears a skin and hails from the Navajo_  
_And now with it, he goes on all fours, he'll go_  
_And now with it, he goes on all fours, he'll go_

The song seemed to abruptly stop, leaving Meeko standing in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere, with tall trees above that nearly blotted out the moon completely. Balancing of left rear paw and right fore paw, Meeko blinked his eyes a few times, slowly coming out of his trance. He looked around at his darkened surrounding, slowly realizing that he had gotten himself into quite a fine mess.

It all came flooding to him in a deluge. He was cold, he was tired, and he wanted to be back in his warm safe home with his friends.

Meeko set his body down onto the cold ground as he shuddered and tried to make himself as small and compact as possible. He was only just beginning to pull himself together when something poked him on his left ear.

Driven by fear, panic, and overall paranoia, Meeko quickly grabbed at whatever poked and prepared to slam it to the ground and run. Luckily for the small captive, Meeko nearly instantly recognized the feeling of feathers in his paw, as well the feel of the twitching struggles and frantic wing-beats, and the sound of the panicked gagging. After all, this wasn't the first Meeko had grabbed the small creature in such a manner.

Meeko smiled with relief as he stared at the ruby throated hummingbird in his tight clutch. Meeko then realized how uncomfortable the bird looked with his long tongue sticking out, and he quickly opened his paw to release him.

Flit flew straight up into the air and hovered above Meeko, taking a couple of desperate gasps for breath. Once he had received enough air to recover, he turned his gaze upon Meeko and proceeded to chew him out. Figuratively speaking that is, since hummingbirds cannot chew, seeing as they have no teeth.

"I _don't _believe it! I just can't believe you! I can't even _sleep at night _without having to worry about what you've gotten yourself into?! You actually can't even go to bed without getting into trouble!"

"But I-," Meeko began, pointing and gesturing off into the woods where he believed, and hoped, the singing had been coming from.

Flit continued, not letting Meeko get a word in edgewise. "And then when I just happen to wake up _out of sheer luck _and find you gone, and make an effort to go looking for you, you go ahead and squeeze the breath out of me _again!_ Can't you do anything _right_, Meeko?!"

Meeko froze in the middle of a paw gesture, with a horrified look on his face as he stared at Flit's angry expression. Meeko's lip trembled as he turned away with downcast eyes.

A look of concern flashed across Flit's face as he watched Meeko slowly walk away wit his head hanging low and his striped tail hanging lower.

"Uh-oh," he said aloud, then quickly flew over to the raccoon's side, "Meeko? I didn't mean to be so harsh. Honest. It's just that I'm really tired and-."

A sound of rustling vegetation and low growling caught the pair's attention. Meeko's head shot up as he peered into the dark woods. Now he was shaking with fear. Flit gulped as he hovered a little bet closer to Meeko's side. Meeko noticed and turned to the hummingbird, motioning with fore paw for him to go while saying softly, "Go-go-go-go-go, it'll never catch you!"

"I'm _not_ leaving you," Flit said.

"But-."

Flit flew boldly in front of Meeko and aimed his long thin beak in the direction of the approaching creature. "My best friend gets hurt over my dead body!"

Meeko's eyes widened at this revelation, "You're not still mad at me?"

"Just because I get mad at you doesn't mean I don't want to be your friend anymore, Meeko," Flit said seriously, yet urgently, "I'm sorry I tore into you like that. I should have let you explain first. You must have had a reason for coming out here, and even if I didn't understand it, I'd still be wrong to put blame on you. Whatever it is, I'm sure-"

Flit was interrupted again by the sound of the creature coming closer. At this moment, it suddenly occurred to Flit that he'd be useless in a fight with anything bigger than a butterfly, and he scooted straight over to Meeko's side.

"I'm sorry Meeko! Sure, you're impulsive and sneaky and clever and eat a lot, but that's why I like you so much!" Flit exclaimed.

Meeko gently grabbed Flit with his forepaws and gingerly held him close to his chest.

"I'm sorry for all those times I've squeezed you too hard!"

"I'm sorry for all the times I nagged and complained about you!"

"I'm sorry for hogging all of those berries the other day!"

"I'm sorry for pecking you in the butt for every little thing!"

The pair probably would have gone on like this for much longer had the creature not finally arrived. They closed their eyes tightly as it came out of the woods, preparing themselves to be devoured by what they just knew would be a ravenous wolf.

"_What _are you two _doing_?!"

The pair opened their eyes to see the annoyed face of the white pug-nosed pup.

_"Well?" _Percy said impatiently, getting angrier by the second.

Flit let out a sigh of relief, seemingly melting out of Meeko's grasp. He was about to explain things to Percy when Meeko suddenly pounced at the dog and caught him a big bear hug.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Percy barked out, pushing a slightly crestfallen Meeko away from him with his fore limbs, "Would someone please tell me what's going on."

Meeko opened his mouth to speak, but Percy suddenly plugged it with his paw.

"No, no. Wait. No. I don't really care. Let's just go back home and forget the whole thing," the pug said, weariness evident in his eyes.

"Hold it," Flit said as he tilted his head in curiosity, "How did _you _find us?"

Percy shrugged, "Something woke me up. Some weird sounds coming from somewhere. I saw you flying somewhere, then I saw that Meeko was gone. I tried going back to sleep, but then it struck me that I'd never forgive myself if something _untoward _happened to him. And knowing Meeko, it probably would, so it seemed I had no choice but to follow you two." Percy gave the raccoon a sideways glance and said with a smirk, "Lucky for me, a dog with half a nose could smell Meeko out."

Meeko blinked, sat on his haunches, raised his right foreleg, and sniffed.

After the awkward moment, Meeko turned to Percy and asked, "Did you hear the singing?"

Percy's brow raised. "Singing? Well . . . I heard something, but I couldn't tell if it was _singing._"

"I thought I heard something too, but," Flit chimed in, but then he blinked and shook his head, "Oh, let's deal with this later. I'm tired. You're tired. We're all tired! Let's go home!"

Meeko couldn't help but smile. Flit was back to his normal, snappy self already. That's why Meeko liked him so much.

Percy let a small genuine smile slip out as he turned back the way her came. "M-hm. Couldn't have said it better. If you tow just-."

_"HOOOOOOOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOOOT!"_

The hooting laughter nearly scared the trio out of their skins. They all quickly turned to look up at the source of the laughter, which was an owl sitting in a tree, flapping his wings wildly as he laughed at the three friends below him.

Percy growled at the bird. "Grrr. What's so funny?"

The owl finished laughing and wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes with his wings. "Oh, I am sorry, my fellow animal friends. But I find it odd to see a hummingbird, a raccoon, and . . . whatever strange creature you are looking so close. Forgive me if I find it odd."

Percy stood up indignantly and said proudly, "I am a valuable pug!"

The owl tried the word out, letting it roll on his tongue. "Pug . . . hmm, never heard of such a creature before."

"Neither did we, at first," Flit said, "You see, he's from across the ocean."

"_Across _the ocean? _Amazing,_" the owl said, looking quite intrigued, "In that case, I won't take no for an answer!"

This brought some alarm to the pug. "What's the question?" Percy asked steadily.

"Will you stay to hear the story I have to tell," the owl said, less like a question and more like a statement.

"A story! Great!" Meeko said as he quickly sat down expectantly.

"Now? It's the middle of the night!" Flit complained.

"I agree, we're going back home to sleep," Percy said.

"And deny me of the pleasure, no, the _honor _of entertaining someone as distinguished and grand as you?" the owl asked leaning towards Percy.

In spite of everything, Percy couldn't help but enjoy being complemented. Put into a slightly better mood, the pug let his mind work things out for a moment.

Meanwhile, Flit zipped down next to Percy's left ear and snapped out in a low voice, "You're not falling for that. You _couldn't _be falling for that."

Percy pushed the hummingbird back with a gentle paw and said to the owl, "I was woken up out of a sound sleep and pretty much forced to run out into the middle of nowhere." Percy shot winking glances at his two friends and continued, "At the very least, I think we should be able to say we got something out of it."

Meeko cheered and clapped his paws enthusiastically.

Flint sighed and hovered down beside his raccoon friend. "Fine then. I suppose we might as well get something out of all this."

The owl laughed aloud as he fluttered down to the ground among his audience of three.

"_Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoooot! _Very good! Now, listen closely to the tale I am about to tell. For it is not just a story, but a warning. For it is the legend of the Navajo Skinwalker!"

"What-a-ho what-walker?" Percy said with a look of confusion in his eyes.

"What's a Navajo?" Meeko said with his head tilted to one side.

"The Navajo," the owl explained, "Is a tribe of humans that live on the other side of these lands."

"Like the Powhatan people that live here?" Flit asked.

"Yes, they are similar to them," the owl answer, "The Navajo reside near the the wide and deep canyons of grandeur; orange-red chasms that go on and on as far as the eye could see. It is a place of great beauty and majesty that might even surpass the great water falls I assume you three are familiar with."

Meeko smiled as goosebumps spread across his body, memories of leaping off the edge of the falls resurfacing.

"The Navajo lands were my home once. Until I had to leave for . . . _reasons . . ._" The storytelling owl shook his head and continued, "The Navajo have many ceremonies to the spirits, with priests who carry them out through song and dance. These people posses great power, and you know what they say. . . Power . . . _corrupts_."

The owl spoke the last word in an ominous whisper, causing his audience to nervously exchange glances.

The owl's eyes widened even bigger than they already were as his head rotated around in a sweeping arc, scrutinizing his audience. He waited a moment before continuing. "The Navajo Skinwalker Legend is a terrifying story, steeped in mystery and evil intent. 'Skinwalker' is more universal name, but in the Navajo language, they are called _yee naaldooshii_, meaning _'with it, he goes on all fours.'_ A Skinwalker is a medicine man, or a witch, who has attained the highest level of priesthood in a tribe. However, unlike those who use their connection with the spirits for healing or to receive wisdom, Skinwalkers chose to use their power for evil."

The owl spread his wings high and wide. "To become a Skinwalker requires the most evil of deeds, the killing of a close family member! A mother. A father. A sister. A brother. Even their own son or daughter. After they've committed this act of depravity, they channel the energies of the spiritual world, they wrap that power around themselves and use it to inflict pain and suffering on others. Any man who looks a Skinwalker in the eye will be frozen with ice cold fear, and that fear will feed the Skinwalker, giving him power and energy for his evil magic. If the victim allows the fear to completely consume them, then their entire being will melt away like snow, and be absorbed by the Skinwalker. Some say they do this, so they can steal faces to disguise themselves, so they may prey upon others when they least expect it."

_Munch-munch-munch-munch._

Percy and Flit jumped a bit and quickly turned to the source of the noise. It was Meeko, nervously munching on a treat. Meeko noticed that he was being stared at from both sides, and turned to look at each of them.

"What? I eat when I'm nervous," he said as if it were obvious.

"But you're _always _eating!" Percy said angrily.

"I also eat when I'm bored. Or hungry. Or sad. Or hungry. Or excited. Or hungry. Or-."

"Where did you even get that treat?" Flit said incredulously.

_"Ahem!" _the owl said loudly and with an ill-tempered glare.

Meeko stared up at the owl for a moment, then quickly finished off the treat with a few quick bites. He licked his paws thoroughly, then folded his paws and nodded.

The owl rolled his big eyes and then continued in his serious storyteller's voice, "Many Navajos believe firmly in the existence of Skinwalkers, but they refuse to discuss them because if they do, they risk a Skinwalker's retribution. They believe Skinwalkers walk freely among the tribe, wearing the face of another, and secretly transform under the cover of night, knocking and scratching on the walls of their homes, and appearing outside a window in an animal-like form. Although they can take the form of any animal they choose at any time, a Skinwalker will usually take the form of a coyote, a fox, a wolf, a crow, or . . ." The owl suddenly flared his wings and declared dramatically, "_AN OWL!"_

Flit, Percy, and Meeko stared back at him with deadpan expressions on their faces.

_"AN OWL!" _the owl said again in the same dramatic manner.

The trio still kept their deadpan faces.

Flit eventually broke it by swaggering and saying in a sarcastic manner, _"Oooooh"_

The owl brought his wings back in and grumbled sourly, "You three aren't any fun."

"Is the story over," Percy said in a bored tone.

"Don't talk like that, we all know you're just as scared as the rest off us!" Meeko said with a knowing grin as he poked Percy in the nose.

"Come on, you two, don't fight," Flit warned. Then he turned to the owl and said, "Sorry about that. Please continue."

The owl nodded gravely and said, "Because it is believed that Skinwalkers actually wear the skins of the animals they transform into, it is considered by the Navajo to be taboo to wear the pelt of any animal. This is why the Navajo are only known to wear two hides, sheepskin and buckskin, both of which are only used for ceremonial purposes. The Skinwalkers are master of deception. Along with wearing the faces of others and taking the form of animals, they can also imitate animals sounds, infant cries, and human voices to lure out potential victims. They equip themselves with weapons such as cursed beads made from human bones, and poisonous dusts made from the bones and flesh of the dead. Not even people's minds are safe, for Skinwalkers can read _anyone's_ thoughts."

Percy gulped audibly at this.

"Of course," the owl went on, his head slowly sweeping back and forth so that he could see all three listeners clearly, "Most would agree that a Skinwalker must be put to death in order to stop his evil. However, the power they posses make them immortal, and far too quick and powerful to catch and restrain. However, a Skinwalker has one lone weakness. If one were to learn of a Skinwalker's true identity, and pronounced the name of the evil one in full, then the Skinwalker would become sick and die in three days for the wrongs they have inflicted against others."

Everything went extremely quiet after this. After a long period of tense silence, Flit made to tentatively break it.

"I-Is that the end of your story?" he asked.

"Yes," the owl said simply, "And I enjoyed telling it." He turned to Percy and said, "And I enjoyed meeting you, my little Pug."

Percy still looked quite terrified from the story, but he built up his courage and said, "Who are you calling little!?"

Now that the story was over, Meeko was able to breathe normally again. He was also quickly starting to feel like his old self again. The raccoon chuckled a bit, putting on a smooth, carefree smiling face. He clapped Percy on the back and said, "Don't sound too worried, Percy. Skinwalkers aren't real, so what's there to worry about, right?"

Flit hovered over to Meeko and nodded in agreement. "Sure thing. A story is just a story. It can't hurt you. Right Owl?"

Flit turned to see that the owl was no longer on the ground. Flit and his two friends looked up in unison to see the owl sitting back on a tree branch with his back to them. The owl gave a loud screech as it suddenly took off into the air and flew up high, it then went into a steep dive, zooming down like a falcon towards the treeline. Then, in the twinkling of an eye, the bird straightened up, flying in a smooth pattern, it's dark black wings melding into the night, it's harsh cawing echoing through the trees.

With horrified fascination, the trio watched the crow fly off into the distance until it could no longer be seen. All three of their mouths hung open in disbelief as their minds only just began to fully comprehend what they had just witnessed.

Eventually, Flit was once again the one to break the silence.

"You two saw that, right?"

Meeko was shaking with fear as he replied, "M-m-maybe we'll wake up t-t-tomorrow and it'll all be a ba-ba- ba-bad dream?"

Flit nodded enthusiastically, "Yes-yes! A bad dream! In fact, when we wake up tomorrow morning, we won't even mention it. We'll pretend it never even happened, cause it's just a bad dream. That makes sense, right?"

Meeko nodded with just as much enthusiasm, "Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. I'm good with that. What do you think, Percy?"

Percy's eyes were as wide as the owl's. He turned to his friends and said, "I _think _that we shouldn't be standing here anymore, _let's get out of here!_"

Percy turned an ran, with Flit and Meeko following right behind him. The three of them went as fast as they could, not stopping until they reached their warm, safe home. Then, making sure to stay close together, they all finally fell back into a merciful dreamless sleep.


End file.
